Graft Case: Bail plea of company secy rejected
New Delhi, December 10
A Delhi court today dismissed the bail plea of a company secretary associated with a leading vernacular daily, in a case of alleged graft in which Company Law Board acting chairman R Vasudevan has also been arrested.

Suspected militants’ petition of
case transfer rejected
New Delhi, December 10
A Delhi court today rejected the petitions of three suspected Pakistani militants— Mohd. Hassan, Shafaquat Iqbal and Shabbir Ahmed— seeking transfer of their case to another court on the allegation that their judge was biased against them as she linked them to Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone captured terrorist in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Firemen rescue a man who sustained injuries in a fire that broke out at Assam Emporium, Connaught Place in New Delhi on Thursday morning.
Twenty-four fire engines were rushed to the spot. The blaze was extinguished around 11:35 am.
Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

Meat, skin of 70 slaughtered buffaloes seized
New Delhi, December 10
The central meat raid team of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday night seized meat and skins of 70 illegally slaughtered buffaloes from the Trilokpuri area of east Delhi.

23 held with 3,500 mobile phones
New Delhi, December 10
The Delhi police has seized 3,502 mobile phones without unique identity numbers in raids carried out in central Delhi shops. Twenty-three shopkeepers have been arrested.

DUTA to discuss smart cards
New Delhi, December 10
The teachers of Delhi University, opposing the move to introduce a biometric system of attendance, will decide on their future course of action at a key meeting of the executive and at a general body of DUTA.

DU, Jamia mull semester system
New Delhi, December 10
As two central universities in the Capital are deliberating on introducing the semester system, the practical problems of introducing it are staring the administration in the face.

Solar Energy: Farooq lauds Delhi govt
New Delhi, December 10
“Every possible effort is being made to change the climatic conditions of India. The country is keen to generate 20,000 megawatt solar energy by 2020 to minimise the use of fossil fuel.”

One killed in head-on collision
Faridabad, December 10
One person died on the spot and three were injured when a trolley collided head-on with a car carrying the victims near Magpie Tourist complex on
Delhi-Mathura national highway, last night.

Dancers showcase the colours and rhythms of Mauritius during a function held in New Delhi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

Two die of H1N1 in Gzb
Ghaziabad, December 10
Two persons, including a female teacher, died of swine flu in Ghaziabad. Besides, two more cases of H1N1 virus, including that of a student of AVES Engineering College, have come to light.1 dies in RMLH

Student was killed over bike
Ghaziabad, December 10
With the arrest of two students, the Ghaziabad police claims to have solved the murder of a B.Tech student.

Trader shot dead
Greater Noida, December 10
A shopkeeper in Harnoti village in the Kakode police station area was allegedly shot dead by two bikers. The victim, Chhatar (38), used to run a grocery shop in the village.

New Delhi, December 10
The Delhi government is likely to ask for an additional Rs 1,000 crore from the central government for the timely completion of Games-related projects in the next financial year.

The Delhi finance minister AK Walia today said that the money would be asked in March next year. “The Delhi government is in a tight position to fund the ongoing Games projects. We would seek another Rs 1,000 crore from the central government in the coming financial year to speed up the Commonwealth Games-related projects,” said Walia.

Delhi has been in a tight financial position in the backdrop of major slump in revenue collections. The request for Rs 1,000 crore next year would be in addition to the amount that the city government will benefit from the central government’s decision to fund games related project under JNNURM in the Capital. The new mechanism will fetch the Delhi government Rs 1,000 crores. He said that the money would be to fund flyover projects of the PWD.

“We had to bring in the ongoing projects of the Barapulla Nullah to link the Games Village to the JLN Stadium, Salimgarh-Velodrome flyover and the UP link flyover under the JNNURM,” said a senior Delhi government official. The money which the centre is likely to transfer to the Delhi government soon under JNNURM will also be used to fund Games projects of the MCD, he added.

The finance minister also clarified that the centre’s allocation of Rs 1,000 crore would not be utilised for interceptor projects of the DJB and low-cost housing projects. The city government, which is already facing heat for its tardy preparation for the mega event, is grappling with fund crunch as the Public Works Department (PWD) had also sought an additional amount of Rs 700 crore citing cost escalation of its projects.

City government officials say that the government reported a fall of over Rs 400 crore in collection of tax revenue in the first four months of the current fiscal. A fall of over Rs 1,300 crore in tax revenue was reported in the last fiscal also.

The Delhi government today tabled its excise Bill in the Delhi Assembly while maintaining the fact that minimum age for taking alcohol will remain 25 years.

There were speculations that the government might lower the permissible age limit for purchasing and drinking of liquor by four years as part of the new Bill.

However, the excise department was learnt to have asked the government to lower the minimum age limit to 21 years, saying that if at 18 years one is allowed to cast vote, one should also be allowed to buy a drink.

The government did not give its assent to the proposal.

The new excise Bill penalizes for employing minors or selling liquors to minors. It recommends stringent penalty for public drinking.

The Bill also imposed penalty for consumption of liquor in chemist shop.

New Delhi, December 10
A Delhi court today dismissed the bail plea of a company secretary associated with a leading vernacular daily, in a case of alleged graft in which Company Law Board acting chairman R Vasudevan has also been arrested.

Saying that the investigation was still in its initial stage, additional sessions judge (ASJ) O P Saini dismissed the bail plea of M K Banthia. “Since the investigation is still at an initial stage, I am not inclined to enlarge the accused on bail,” said the magistrate.

Earlier, the court had on December 4 dismissed the bail application of Vasudevan.
Banthia was arrested by the CBI on November 23 along with Vasudevan for allegedly giving a bribe of Rs 7 lakh to pass a favourable order in a matter relating to the daily.
The court had dismissed the bail plea of Vasudevan on CBI’s plea that it had found the accused had amassed Rs 2.27 crore in the form of cash and bank deposits.

Around Rs 55 lakh , including the alleged bribe money, was recovered from Vasudevan’s official residence at south Delhi during a search at the time of his arrest, CBI said.

The court, detailing the sequence of events, said Banthia, who allegedly paid Rs 7-lakh bribe to Vasudevan, had demanded Rs 10 lakh from an advocate Ankur Chawla who was also named in the FIR.

The court had earlier remanded Vasudevan and Banthia to judicial custody till December 12.

New Delhi, December 10
A Delhi court today rejected the petitions of three suspected Pakistani militants— Mohd. Hassan, Shafaquat Iqbal and Shabbir Ahmed— seeking transfer of their case to another court on the allegation that their judge was biased against them as she linked them to Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone captured terrorist in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

District judge G.P. Mittal rejected the petitions as he did not find any substance in the allegations after hearing the version of the woman judge who said the charges were made as she was expediting the trial against the accused.

“I am not inclined to believe that the petitioners have been treated as terrorists during the trial by the presiding officer. The case is at an advanced stage and only testimony of the investigating officer remains to be recorded. No case can be transferred from one court to another on vague allegations or mere apprehensions of the litigant” Mittal said.

Mohd. Hassan, who hails from Mandi district in Punjab province of Pakistan and Shafaquat Iqbal and Shabbir Ahmed of Doda in Jammu and Kashmir, alleged that the judge had made unwarranted remarks regarding them like — “It is you who are the trouble-makers.”

“Ajmal Kasab is your brother. You all belong to the same clan, but now you disown him,” is the remark attributed to the judge by the accused, who also alleged that the magistrate had called them “terrorists”.

The accused, suspected to be a LeT member, had filed separate affidavits to point out the “unwarranted” references made by the judge against them.

The three accused are lodged in Tihar Jail since their arrest from near Dilli Haat on April 26, 2007.

The police alleged the three were sent to the Capital by their handler Abu Ammar, a Pakistan-based suspected chief commander of LeT in Jammu and Kashmir, to carry out blasts.

The three have been charged with various offences, including waging war against the country and other offences under the Explosive Substance Act.

New Delhi, December 10
The central meat raid team of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday night seized meat and skins of 70 illegally slaughtered buffaloes from the Trilokpuri area of east Delhi.

The MCD officials said the raid was conducted with the help of the Delhi police.

“We have sealed properties used for illegal slaughtering of animals. The Delhi police arrested nine persons with knives and other tools used for slaughtering animals and removing their skin. The police team also impounded two trucks used for the purpose,” said a MCD officer.

He added that 51 live cattle were also released from the possession of the butchers and were sent to the municipal cattle pond at Timarpur.

An FIR in this respect has been lodged at the Trilokpuri police station.

On December 5, a similar raid was conducted at Chaman Park in Indira Vihar, where meat and skin of one buffalo were seized.

“The police had registered an FIR to this effect and arrested two persons. The said property has also been sealed by the MCD,” the official added.

“Twenty-three shopkeepers who were found selling sub-standard mobile phones without IMEI numbers have been arrested. We have seized phones along with a ‘spiderman software box’ used for loading fake IMEI numbers on these sets,” said additional commissioner of police (crime) Neeraj Thakur.

He added, “We got a complaint that some people were supplying counterfeit and sub-standard mobile handsets that do not have IMEI number. Yesterday, we conducted raids in the electronics market,” Thakur said.

Over 21 million handsets without the 15-digit unique identity number are in circulation across the country.

Most of the seized handsets have been imported from China and using such phones has been declared illegal by the government. Besides, the government has banned phones without International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number from this month.

New Delhi, December 10
The teachers of Delhi University, opposing the move to introduce a biometric system of attendance, will decide on their future course of action at a key meeting of the executive and at a general body of DUTA.

Prof Aditya Narayan Misra, DUTA president, said, “We will be deciding on our future course of action at a meeting of the executive on December 11 and that of the general body on December 15. On the agenda will be deliberations on the biometric attendance issue, the semester system and UGC draft regulation on service conditions.”

Misra said, “It is not fair to impose the biometric system on teachers. No foreign university has this system. Teachers should have the freedom to attend seminars and symposiums. However, the biometric attendance would restrict this.”

“If talks with the vice-chancellor do not work, we will go in for a lengthy agitation,” warned Prof Misra.

However, not all the teachers are against the proposed system. A Ramjas College professor said, “Attendance is just one way of making teachers accountable and this in itself is not a negative step. I feel this would do us good in the long run. After all it is just marking attendance and will not restrict our movement much.”

Other issues that will come up for discussion are the semester system and the proposed UGC draft regulation on service conditions of teachers.

New Delhi, December 10
As two central universities in the Capital are deliberating on introducing the semester system, the practical problems of introducing it are staring the administration in the face.

After inviting concerns from stake-holders—faculty and students—Delhi University (DU) has even fixed its first semester for the next academic year from July 19 to December 4.

Amidst resistance from teachers, DU vice-chancellor Deepak Pental has made it clear that DU would go ahead with the new system, even if it meant introducing certain special provisions. The university authorities believe the semester system along with the introduction of credit-based assessment would make the university compatible with international educational institutes.

“The basic perquisites are already in place. Workload remains the same; working days being the same; just small changes are needed to be introduced,” said S.K.Vij, dean students’ welfare and member of empowered committee formulated to look into the implementation of semester system.

Though many DU teachers are quite apprehensive of the new system. They believe that the administration is not ready to increase the infrastructure.

“Under the given infrastructure, there is no way that the semester system is going to work,” said Vijender Sharma, former president, DUTA.

Jamia Millia Islamia has also constituted a committee to look into semester system.

“We have been discussing the pros and cons of semester system, but we are taking time and a committee has been constituted for the purpose,” said Rakshanda Jalil, spokesperson of Jamia.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has had semester system ever since its inception.

New Delhi, December 10
“Every possible effort is being made to change the climatic conditions of India. The country is keen to generate 20,000 megawatt solar energy by 2020 to minimise the use of fossil fuel.”

This was said by union minister of new and non-conventional energy Dr Farooq Abdulla while inaugurating a one-day workshop-cum-exhibition on promoting deployment of solar water heating system in the NCR, organised today at Delhi secretariat. Abdullla appreciated Delhi government’s role in converting the diesel-based public transport system into CNG.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit stressed upon the need of reliable solar heating appliances and called upon people to use such appliances. The CMsuggested that solar energy equipment must have ratings so that users could be convinced of their utility and standards.

The solar water heating is a mature technology. A solar water heater of 100 liters capacity can prevent emission of 1.5 tones of carbon dioxide per year.

Faridabad, December 10
One person died on the spot and three were injured when a trolley collided head-on with a car carrying the victims near Magpie Tourist complex on Delhi-Mathura national highway, last night.

The four victims were on way to attend the wedding ceremony. The victims include Shobraj, father of the bridegroom.

They are residents of Ballabgarh. The accident took place when the car was coming from Ballabgarh to Magpie Tourist complex, the venue of the ceremony. While it was about to take a U-turn to enter the tourist complex, the trolley coming from Delhi collided with it.

Shobraj died on the spot. The other three have been seriously injured.

Ghaziabad, December 10
Two persons, including a female teacher, died of swine flu in Ghaziabad. Besides, two more cases of H1N1 virus, including that of a student of AVES Engineering College, have come to light.

Due to the increasing cases of swine flu, AVES Engineering College has postponed its internal examination till December 16.

Pallavi Dubey (28), who worked at AKG Engineering College, was running temperature for many days. Her husband took her to the district hospital. Finding symptoms of swine flu, doctors referred her to the Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital at Shahdara in Delhi, where she died.

Ten-year-old Ashish, a resident of Indirapuram, who was admitted to the Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital also died .

While Vikalp Agarwal, a second year student of AVEM Engineering College, has also tested positive to swine flu. The students of the college created a ruckus and demanded the closure of college.

Mohit, 8, a resident of Raj Nagar , has also tested positive to swine flu. His family has alleged that despite their informing the authorities, no action has been taken by them.

New Delhi, December 10
Vandana, 52, a resident of Anand Vihar, gave in to the H1N1 virus this afternoon at 3. She was a diabetic and admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RMLH) on December 4 , said the assistant nodal officer of H1N1 in Delhi, Dr Anjan Prakash.

However, according to the medical superintendent of RMLH, Dr N K Chaturvedi, the hospital has recorded no death in the past 24 hours.

Ghaziabad, December 10
With the arrest of two students, the Ghaziabad police claims to have solved the murder of a B.Tech student.

The victim Pratap was allegedly killed by his two friends — Rahul and Kuldip in the Swaran Jyanti Puram area five days ago.

According to the police, Pratap’s friends allegedly killed him as he did not allow them to drive his new bike. After Pratap had bought the bike, he started maintaining distance from his friends.

Rahul and Kuldip, students of classes IX and X, respectively, were arrested near Hapur Octroi post.

Kuldip told the police that Pratap had bought a new bike about two months ago and since then he had been maintaining distance from them friends. This offended them and they decided to teach him a lesson.

The police has recovered the blood-stained khukhri and knives used by the assailants to kill Pratap.

SP (city) Rahul Yaduvender said that Pratap’s blood-stained torn jersey and a shoe were found a little distance away his body.

Pratap’s family members had told the police that he used to play cricket with Rahul and Kuldip, residents of Akash Vihar under Mussori Kotwali.

Greater Noida, December 10
A shopkeeper in Harnoti village in the Kakode police station area was allegedly shot dead by two bikers. The victim, Chhatar (38), used to run a grocery shop in the village.

A cousin of the deceased has filed a complaint in this regard with the Kakode police station.

Harnoti village is one of the most sensitive villages of the district and has witnessed several sensational murders. On Tuesday, two men on a motor cycle came and shot Chhatar with a revolver from close range at 7.30 pm while he was sitting in his shop.

When assailants fired at Chhatar, he tried to flee, but was hit by a bullet. As villagers rushed towards the shop, the assailants sped away on their bike. Chhatar died on the spot.

The police is investigating the reason of murder. However, the villagers said he had no enmity with anyone.